Seraph-spread wings
And the wings of the tree
Branches like outstretched arms
And hands pinioned, punctured
The taste of honey and vinegar
Agony and Ecstasy
Rough-wool clad
Naked unto God
Seraph-sealed lips
And the eyes grown dim
The cut and crux of Man
Flesh and blood and bone
Caught in rapture and rupture
Divine incarnate call
The leper’s kiss
The sultan’s embrace
The outcast and enemy
Made one in this body
An icon of Christ
Lift high the cross of mourning
And the rising sun unseen
For God has left a letter
Words written in wounds
Ruby red and running out
Love unto death, the prophet’s song
And Nature’s symphony
He will draw all Men to Himself
For death is trampled down by death
And in dying we are born to eternity
Francis, build My House!
Take My body from the tree
And be My body now!
Leave the playhouse, join the feast!